Chapter 17: Determined to Win

Whoosh!

In an instant, the over a thousand guests on Duobao Peak all turned to look. Though they were participating in this 'Treasure Auction,' most would only bid for treasures worth around a hundred thousand jin of primal liquid. Those truly willing to pay over a million jin of primal liquid were extremely rare! Many loose immortals didn't even have that much total wealth, and their assets were mostly tied up in their own magic treasures.

Only a small portion of the crowd on Duobao Peak could directly bid two hundred and sixty thousand jin of primal liquid.

It's that Ji Ning.

A mere Wanxiang cultivator?

Does he dare to bid on the Five Elements Peacock Tail Feathers?

Does he have that much primal liquid?

He killed Shaoyin Nong and a Yuan Shen-level divine demon. Shaoyin Nong had many treasures, and that Yuan Shen-level divine demon probably had some too.

Murmurs arose, all shocked that Ji Ning dared to bid.

After all, the five who had bid before were all of great background and were all immortals!

What about Ji Ning? He's only a Wanxiang Adept.

Two million seven hundred thousand catties of liquefied elemental essence. Little fellow from the Black-White College, this is just raw material, not a magic treasure. Even if you buy it, you can't use it directly; you'll need to combine it with other materials and have a master refiner forge it into an Immortal-ranked treasure.

Two million eight hundred thousand catties of liquefied elemental essence. It goes to whoever can afford it. Don't say that Ji Ning is just a Wanxiang Adept; even if he were a mortal, as long as he can pay the price, why do you care what he does with it?

Three million catties of liquefied elemental essence. Everyone, don't compete with me. My master has been seeking such Five Elements rare materials for a long time.

The price climbed rapidly.

Ji Ning also felt the pressure. After all, the treasures he had sold earlier only fetched two million six hundred thousand catties of liquefied elemental essence. But this was within expectations, since the Peacock Plume as the main material could be used to forge a top-grade Immortal-ranked treasure, which was far beyond his 'Green Silk Divine Fire Lamp.' The Green Silk Divine Fire Lamp was only a low-grade Immortal-ranked treasure!

"Ji Ning, just raise the price directly and shock them," the voice of the yellow-furred bear suddenly echoed in Ji Ning's mind. "If you keep bidding slowly like this, the price might end up very high. Just bid four million catties."

Ji Ning hesitated for a moment.

He carried the Water Mansion with him, and the spirit of the Water Mansion was well aware of everything around him.

"Four million catties of liquefied elemental essence!" Ji Ning shouted loudly.

Instantly, the entire Duobao Peak fell silent.

Just now it was almost all slowly rising by a hundred thousand jin, a hundred thousand jin at a time. Now suddenly it's skyrocketing by a million jin of primal liquid—that's too high. After all, this isn't a finished immortal-grade treasure, just the 'material' for one.

……

"Does he have that much primal liquid?" Princess Xiyue worried. Seeing Ji Ning bid, she wanted to help him. But she spent her days in the prince's manor, rarely going out, and seldom came to Treasure Hill. She had no place to spend money, so she only carried some life-saving items. Besides, she was only a Wanxiang Adept now, so naturally she had no immortal-grade treasures.

She never went out to take risks, always staying in the Grand Xia capital. If she sold the treasures she had, she'd probably get at most one or two million jin of primal liquid.

Four million jin of primal liquid... even princes and princesses, few could produce that much.

"If only Grandfather were here," Princess Xiyue thought to herself. Given how doting her grandfather was, buying the Peacock Plume would be a trivial matter.

"This Ji Ning killed Shaoyin Nong—how many treasures did he get?" Greenwillow Immortal beside her sighed in amazement. "He dares to bid even on treasures like the Peacock Plume. Four million jin of primal liquid could buy a finished immortal-grade treasure."

……

"This Ji Ning only killed one Shaoyin Nong. How much could Shaoyin Nong's entire wealth be, that he dares to bid four million jin of primal liquid?" The pale, beardless young man frowned.

……

"Four million jin of primal liquid?" The man whose whole body glowed with green light, as if cast from steel, also frowned. This price was indeed very high. To refine a powerful immortal-grade treasure, other materials were needed, and one had to ask a Celestial Immortal adept in artifact refining to personally craft it. Those costs were not low, and only then could one obtain a finished immortal-grade treasure.

……

"Good heavens." Woodboy Daoist, who had been watching the excitement, exclaimed in admiration, involuntarily taking a deep look at Ji Ning in the distance.

Four million jin of primal liquid—this Ji Ning was indeed wealthy enough.

As the saying goes, a horse won't grow fat without night feed. Cultivating in seclusion and searching for treasures truly couldn't compare to Ji Ning killing Shaoyin Nong. Killing one Shaoyin Nong, and he struck it rich!

"Fellow Daoist Xiushui, do you still wish to contend?" Woodboy Daoist laughed. "I still have about a million jin of primal liquid here, which I can lend to you."

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Woodboy." Shaoyin Xiushui glanced at the servant behind him. A blue-robed servant quickly approached.

"Didn't you investigate earlier and say that Ji Ning's transaction with Treasure Hill was only two million six hundred thousand jin of primal liquid?" Shaoyin Xiushui said angrily. "With just over two million jin of primal liquid, how dare he bid four million?"

The blue-robed servant quickly said: "Master, this information is absolutely correct. Rest assured, Master, the headquarters of Treasure Hill also knows that Ji Ning only traded over two million jin of primal liquid with them. Now that he suddenly bids four million... Treasure Hill is also worried that Ji Ning might disrupt this treasure auction, so they will certainly check on him."

"Mm." Shaoyin Xiushui nodded. His eyes suddenly brightened as he glimpsed in the distance, at the cloud where Ji Ning was, a man and a woman flying toward Ji Ning.

……

Ji Ning also noticed two people flying over from behind—Yu Qi in purple robes, and a bald woman in white. As soon as the two flew into the cloud, mist rose within the cloud, covering the surroundings, so that outsiders could not know what was being discussed inside.

The bald woman smiled. 'Daoist Ji Ning, I am Yichen of the Tianbao Mountain. I know you previously traded for two million six hundred thousand jin of liquid elemental essence, but now you have bid four million jin. We at Tianbao Mountain are concerned that this transaction may ultimately fail.'

Ji Ning nodded.

For an ordinary treasure competition, if the bidder defaulted, forfeiting the one thousand jin deposit was sufficient punishment.

But this competition for the 'Peacock Plume' involved an enormous sum. If Ji Ning made a reckless bid and then failed to purchase, merely forfeiting one thousand jin would be meaningless.

'I hope you understand, Daoist Ji Ning,' the white-robed bald woman said very politely.

'I understand,' Ji Ning said with a smile. 'I heard earlier that during this treasure competition, if we have treasures, we can also hand them over for sale?'

'Yes,' the white-robed bald woman nodded.

'I have one right here.' Ji Ning flipped his hand, and an ancient lamp appeared in his palm. The lamp bore a cyan flame, and from the cyan flame emerged a child's face, looking around and sighing, 'You kept me locked in that storage treasure for so long—I was suffocating! Wow, what place is this?'

'An immortal-ranked treasure?' The white-robed bald woman was startled. 'The Cyan Silk Divine Fire Lamp?'

The Cyan Silk Divine Fire Lamp was a relatively common type of immortal-ranked treasure.

Simply put, it was a lamp containing 'Cyan Silk Divine Fire,' which could be used to attack enemies or to nurture the 'heavenly fire' within one's body. Though common, it was still eagerly sought by all parties, as everyone wished to elevate their heavenly fire to the first grade.

'Does Daoist Ji Ning mean to sell this Cyan Silk Divine Fire Lamp? At this treasure competition?' the white-robed bald woman asked.

'Yes,' Ji Ning nodded.

'Our Tianbao Mountain can directly purchase it for three million jin of liquid elemental essence,' the white-robed bald woman Yichen couldn't help saying. The Cyan Silk Divine Fire Lamp was extremely rare; whenever one appeared, it was snapped up immediately. Tianbao Mountain naturally wanted to acquire it.

'No, let it participate in this treasure competition. Set the base price at three million jin. If no one buys it, then I'll sell it to you,' Ji Ning said. 'Do you have any objection, Daoist Yichen?'

The white-robed bald woman's face twitched.

Set the base price at three million jin? Sell it to Tianbao Mountain only if no one bought it?

'No objection, no objection.' The white-robed bald woman took the Cyan Silk Divine Fire Lamp and turned to leave.

Ji Ning was not worried. Tianbao Mountain's headquarters, doing business, would not embezzle a low-grade immortal treasure like the 'Cyan Silk Divine Fire Lamp.'

…

The black-haired girl presiding over the treasure competition on the auspicious cloud had been waiting for her people to verify. Now that she knew Ji Ning indeed had the means to buy, she immediately announced, 'Four million jin of liquid elemental essence—any higher?'

'It seems Ji Ning has the strength,' the beardless young man sighed and shook his head. 'Too high, the price is too high.'

'Too high.'

Some began to give up, as Ji Ning's sudden increase of one million jin had indeed intimidated a few.

But there were still those who desperately desired the Peacock Plume.

'Four million one hundred thousand jin!' said the man who seemed cast from steel with a cyan glow, his voice low. 'This is what I need for my tribulation. I hope you all will grant me, Dong Chou, this face.'

'Hmph, Dong Chou, you need to undergo the tribulation, but so do I. Four million two hundred thousand jin,' Shao Yan Xiushui said in a low voice.

Dong Chou the Immortal was merely a lone cultivator, though extremely powerful. Shao Yan Xiushui, however, came from the Shao Yan clan.

'Four million three hundred thousand!' Dong Chou the Immortal said darkly.

'Four million four hundred thousand!' Shao Yan Xiushui gritted his teeth.

'Four million six hundred thousand!' Dong Chou the Immortal's eyes held killing intent.

'Four million seven hundred thousand!' Shao Yan Xiushui shot him a cold glare.

The tribulation was the most important hurdle on the path of immortality.

Survive it, and one would transcend the Three Realms, free and at ease, attaining immortality. Fail, and at best one would become a loose immortal. How could they not fight for treasures to aid in the tribulation?

'Five million jin!' Ji Ning shouted.

Shao Yan Xiushui and Dong Chou the Immortal both looked at him.

All the guests present looked over, and even began discussing Ji Ning. This was madness—five million jin?

'Shao Yan Xiushui, will you bid higher?' Ji Ning looked at Shao Yan Xiushui in the distance.

If those two Earth Immortals desperately wanted it, Ji Ning's desire was no less than theirs!

Treasures of the Five Elements essence were easy enough to find for the second stage of the Star Picking Hand, but the third stage was far harder.

This 'Peacock Plume' would be more than enough to allow Ji Ning to train both the second and third stages of the Star Picking Hand to completion! Among the many techniques and divine abilities he cultivated, the strongest was undoubtedly the 'Star Picking Hand'—a divine ability ranked among the top ten since the creation of heaven and earth, the pinnacle in the Three Realms!

Any treasure or rare object was secondary to him; the divine ability 'Star Picking Hand' was what would truly skyrocket his power!

This Peacock Plume—he must have it!

'Five million jin of liquid elemental essence—any higher? Any higher?' the black-haired girl called out from atop the auspicious cloud. All over Duobao Peak, discussions buzzed, but no one bid further. Even Shao Yan Xiushui, though his face was grim, hesitated, and Dong Chou the Immortal gritted his teeth and held back.

'If no one bids higher, the Peacock Plume goes to Daoist Ji Ning!' the black-haired girl urged one last time in a loud voice.